The White House tours are not open to foreign nationals anymore.

It's actually quite difficult for Americans to get the tour now.

>>The White House tours are not open to foreign nationals anymore.<<

That is not true. Foreign national visitors are welcome to visit the WH by obtaining tickets through their embassies.

bds, You will both need to contact your respective embassies and I suggest you do that as quickly as possible even for a May trip. Embassies receive an allotment of tickets. My British cousin was told in September for a December visit that all of their tickets for the year had been distributed. His Italian girlfriend was able to get one through her embassy.

It is unlikely that you'll get tickets for the same day but the tour only lasts about an hour. The non touring one can be the repository for all the things you can't take with you into the WH and find a near by spot for coffee or wine.

Good luck -- it's a very popular tour.

You will each need to contact your embassy in Washington DC for assistance.

Information on touring the White House is at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/tours-and-events

Thanks for all your assistance

It turns out that the first reply was correct - we have checked the French Embassy website and the British Embassy website, and both say that White House tours are not currently open to foreign nationals due to unprecedentedly high demand within the US at present.

Disappointing but at least we now know! We will be trying to tour the Pentagon instead as this looks like it could be easier to achieve

Ah, too bad! If it's any consolation, the tour is very brief these days and shows little of grandeur. It's a cool feeling to be inside the WH, but a bit underwhelming otherwise. I hope you're not too disappointed! Enjoy your trip.

The Pentagon tour isn't all that great, so if you time is limited, you might want to skip it. The tour is basically walking through a huge office building, which is exactly what the Pentagon is. If you want to see the 9-11 Memorial at the Pentagon, it is open to the public 24/7, so you could go there anytime.

Also, while the White House tour website refers non-citizens to the embassies of their respective countries to request White House tour tickets, I am unaware of ANY embassy that still does this. In fact, I don't think ANY have done this for the past 4-5 years. (I don't know why the WH website doesn't just remove that statement.)

Rather than the Pentagon you might try for the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the State Dept:

http://www.state.gov/m/drr/

I found the tour a bit heavy on the patriotism, but quite interesting.

The Library of Congress is is beautiful building and they have free timed tours, though you can walk through without a tour as well. The building is not in the Congress. It is next door to the Supreme Court . The Supreme Court has a tour as well. Check both websites for more information, and see if either would interest you.

Thanks for your other suggestions The Library of Congress is already on our list, and we will consider Pentagon vs. Diplomatic Reception Rooms